'Rising Strongly and Rapidly': The Universal Negro Improvement Association in Canada, 1919–1940

Led by Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (unia) spanned the globe and enticed its followers with the dream of an independent black nation in Africa. The unia has been portrayed largely as an American and/or Caribbean phenomenon. Yet from 1919 to 1940, the unia played a central role in the lives of many blacks in Canada, especially West Indian immigrants. West Indian immigrants comprised the vast majority of unia members in Canada, and they used this organization as an outlet to create and express a unique ethno-racial identity. Distinctive commonalities among the West Indians, including high literacy rates, experience in trade unions, and a strong pan-African consciousness made them more likely to join the unia than African American immigrants and native-born Black Canadians. These shared traits became part of the fabric of a distinct West Indian identity, which they asserted as leaders, organizers, and participants in the unia.